Territorial hawk dive bombs woman resulting in concussion
Ducking diving hawks is becoming a daily occurrence in one business area in the city’s southeast.
On Tuesday, Calgarian Maria Webster became the latest person to run afoul of a family of Swainson’s hawks that have taken up residence in the trees adjacent to her workplace along 9th Street S.E. in Ogden.
Webster was on her way back into her building after grabbing lunch when the bird of prey swooped.
“It felt like a baseball hit me in the head. It had knocked me over and when I got up I felt some blood,” said Webster.
The hawks, which built a nest in the trees overhead of the industrial area, are very territorial and Webster believes three fledglings are just learning to fly.
“We were told about them and I did see another co-worker who had been attacked a couple weeks earlier, but I don’t know if I necessarily thought it was going to happen to me,” she said.
Luckily, some workers at the business next door saw the incident and came out to help Webster.
“When they came out, the hawk attacked one of them as well. They got some cardboard boxes and covered their heads and ran and covered me, and then that’s how I got into the building.”
The sheer force of being knocked down on the pavement by the hawk left Webster with a concussion.
“I had to get one stitch at the top of my head. I’m on antibiotics and I had to get a tetanus shot,” said Webster. “It was a lot more serious than you’d think it would be.”
Officials with Fish and Wildlife said Swainson’s hawks, also known as grasshopper or locust hawks, are protected in the province and there is nothing that can be done to remove them.
The birds, which grow as large as 22 inches in length and no more than 3.7 pounds, are considered a threatened species in Canada.
“Now I’m armed with an umbrella every time I get out of the car,” said Webster.
“The birds and I, we’re not friends right now.”